Whilst we’re still waiting for the official release date of Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode Two, 2K and Irrational Games have released an exclusive preview clip featuring Elizabeth, Booker and our old friend Atlas.

As the gameplay clip shows, in Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode Two, players will take on the role of Bioshock Infinite’s supporting character, Elizabeth, as opposed to our skyhook-wielding binge eater, Booker DeWitt. However, Booker does look to be making an appearance in part two of the DLC and judging from the clip it seems to be in a Sixth Sense sort of capacity.

In Episode One of Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea, Booker is approached by Elizabeth and tasked with helping her find a girl named Sally who has gone missing in the vast underwater metropolis of Rapture. Along the way, the duo encounter many of the Bioshock series notable characters, including the wonderfully manic artist, Sander Cohen, and get a deeper insight into how the Splicers and Little Sisters came to be.

As mentioned in our review of Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode One, the debut chapter of the DLC played largely as a narrative piece for fans of the series and hardcore combat pieces were put on the back-burner – a real shame considering that players were given new weapons and plasmids to play with. For those hoping Episode 2 will allow players to fully experience Elizabeth’s powers, that seems to not be the case.

Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode Two is said to take its inspiration from the survival horror genre of games which have become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. Rather than having Elizabeth toting guns and cracking skulls, players will have to rely on strategy and avoiding combat in order to progress through the game successfully. For those wondering why they can’t just play as “Booker in a dress”, here’s what level designer Amanda Jeffrey had to say in an interview with IGN last year:

“With the player getting the opportunity to see how Liz is experiencing the world through first person, we have to be ever so careful to not betray what the player has already experienced of Liz in Infinite and what they’re going to experience of Liz in the first part of the DLC,” Jeffrey told IGN. “That’s always foremost in our mind, because Liz is such a different character to Booker, and if we were to just put Booker in a dress, then that would be the most awful betrayal of what we’re doing for Liz, and players would just feel like it was a cheap way out, and that’s not something that we want to do.”

“Elizabeth has to take things more from the side view,” she explained. “She needs to be kind of thinking in a roundabout way of how to deal with her enemies. And, sometimes, that might mean completely bypassing the enemy entirely, because she doesn’t need to. It may mean, in another situation, using the enemy’s strength against them. There’s all of these different kinds of ways of being more thoughtful, and – I hesitate to say it – almost more feminine way of approaching a problem, where there’s all of these people and, to be very brutally honest about it, they have the advantage in strength. But Elizabeth has the advantage in smarts.”

Jeffrey does also comment that players will be able to utilise Elizabeth’s tear abilities, but at the time of interview in August last year, she did express that Irrational were “still trying to work out exactly how extensive Liz’s tear abilities will be in the playable Liz sequence,” and that “Elizabeth and her tear abilities are not necessarily a ‘win button.’”

From everything we’ve seen and heard so far, it seems that Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode Two will be another solid piece of story-driven content to cater to the Bioshock fanbase. The introduction of previously unseen areas of Rapture and a brand new playstyle for the series is definitely an enticing offer and should serve as a look into what Bioshock can be when you strip away all the guns and powers. I believe Irrational’s biggest stumbling block will be those who have already made the switch to the next generation of consoles.

Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode Two is scheduled for release soon on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.